Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Magical Macarons

My first shock, regarding these desserts, was the spelling. I always thought it had a double O, like carTOON, bufFOON, but I guess I was wrong. In fact, macaroons, according to Wikipedia, are different from Macarons, just like a CarTON is different from a CarTOON. However, I think by and large, no one really cares, and in fact, even the advertisement in the Cooking House said Macaroon. Heck, even Laduree, the Mecca of Macaroons, spells them with a double "O", in their website. (Incidentally, the Laduree ones look terribly oorgasmic)

I only ever recall eating the ones from Lemon Garden, Shangrila, and they were horrible. Enough to give you diabetes from one nibble, and completely unsubtle taste.

As I've always been very curious to know HOW these little biscuits are piped to such perfection and such circular shapes, I was thrilled to see the Cooking House feature this class, by a French lady no less. I apparently cajoled Ciki, into coming with me, as we both had RM100 vouchers from Cooking House to be utilised. And, the class was on a WEEKDAY!!! Yay. I love weekday classes. Just tell the office, I'm going for a course.

The instructress, Chef Nathalie Arberfeuille, has an aura of Chefdom about her. You straightaway feel you are in the correct hands. It's kinda like going for boxing lessons with Muhammad Ali, as opposed to going for singing lessons with Mawi. It helps, with that sexay French accent....it sends shiversss up my spine....

Everytime I go to the Cooking House, I feel very at home. To my surprise, the class was packed. (aiya, these people all no need to work one ah). Fortunately, I was not the only rose amongst the thorns, as there was another chappie there attending as well. (But he professional chef).

First, we were briefed about the sensitivities of the project. Apparently these are very sensitive, precise biscuits, with very low tolerance for mistakes, or inaccuracy, temperature, etc. When she says 118C, its 118C, not 121, or 115....make no mistake. 75gms of egg white is SEVENTY FIVE GRAMS, don't try to be a smart alec and allow 78gm. Phwah.....sounds like some people I know..

She looks a bit like Julie Andrews hor! I felt like I was in the Sound of Music. Minus the music. And annoying small children. And nuns.

Check out Ciki...she looks like she's racing with the other girl to see who can Mac-simize their Macs...pump it Ciki Pump It...yeah....actually, I meant Pipe it...

This fella here is the raison d'etre for Ciki's presence at the class. (by her own admission) Debonair and youthful chef Ryan Khang.

It really is a miracle of physics, I reckon, how the batter just spreads evenly to form perfect circles.

And look at those baked biscuits...amazing how there seem to be two distinct layers.

Dang, previously not a fan, just looking at these while I'm writing is making me hungry. Who'd have thought.

Hey, the ganache filling is valrhona chocolate okay. I reckon, it would taste good any which way!!!

Part of the process was to find each biscuit a matching mate. It was almost like a mass Korean cult wedding. Pairs of macs waiting to be tied together in holy matrimony.

I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.

I am now a macaronian. A convert, to the macaron religion. The ethereal light melt in the mouth biscuit, albeit a bit sweet, is complemented by the dark valrhona ganache. Divine.

However, not all macs are created equal. One of my classmates told me that this was not the first macaroon class she was attending coz she wasn't satisfied with the previous ones. Wow, talk about commitment. Even she was impressed with Nathalie's product.

We also had coconut and pistachio macaroons, but we missed the assembly line, coz Ciki, Ryan and I snuck out for lunch...which is another story altogether.

These babies taste better after a few days in an airtight container in the fridge. That's what the Chef told us, and the Chef was correct.

Now, to find a recipe that needs lots of yolks, so I can use the whites for my first attempt!!!!

62 comments:

They're such pretty little things...your photographs are bootiful, tangechi. Like you, I've always thought the spelling was macaroons, and I'm also not a fan after a couple of bad tasting ones. I think I need convincing pronto.

these are some crazy pictures. They are so perfect, like professional! macarons are perfect models for total food porn, too.I think I would like the pistachio macaron more.the teacher...she looks so serious. Like training FBI...

ehh ur also a chef wat..(on ur comment on the otr chappie)so macaron will be nx up as one of ur FBB fattening fav? ;pyeahh..me find macaron and pav a tard too sweet..wonder if its possible to reduce sugar?

isn't that how u do it in real life too.. look for the perfect fit.. the 'other' matching semi-sphere, then jump on it... and never let it go! The Macaron can teach us a thing or two bout life eh.. gotta luvit ..:P

Wow!!! I am impressed with the class just by looking at your photos. Your photos just get better (except those from project-not-so-lonely post - haha!)Do announce when you offer macarons for sale... you could be as popular as Laduree or Pierre Herme ;o)

mh, oooh, i havent used my flaming blowtorch for a long time...creme brulee...hmmm..... that's an idea.

j2kfm, the texture changes over the days wor. straight out of oven, these were soft on inside, crisy on outside, overall gooey, ...after a few days in the fridge, it seems even better, coz all the flavours had been absorbed, like curry laidat...

TNG, according to the chef, cannnottttt have ANEEEEEE variation on the recipe...one grain less of sugar and the entire thing is liable to collapse... and since "ze ingrediens are veRy expanseev, eeet ees not a gewd ideeah to take ze reeesks".

lianne, GUFFFAW, that's like saying all malaysians can make kueh talam.

burp&slurp, welcome welcome, you look like new visitor. haha, no la, she was very friendly, the instructor. not FBI at all. told you mah, like maria from sound of music. actually, the pistachio one was even sweeter than choc, coz it uses a white choc base as the ...err...whatchewcallit? cohesive ingredient.

babe, aiya, i'm sure u can easily make them.... hahah. will pass you some when i save my egg whites.

eunice, ya ya, me too, i dont like them, or pavlovas either, coz i find them way too sweet. but as nathalie said, that's why you have to find a balancing ingredient for the filling.... put it this way la, it still isnt in my top 10 favourite desserts, but if they're this quality, i certainly wont complain.

thamby, when was the last time you went egg shopping? you'd be hard pressed to find a package of a dozen.

nipples, hahahahah i was WAITING for someone to say that. if you think about it, its penny wise pound foolish, coz even if you waste 10 yolks, the cost is about RM2. the way we waste cardboard boxes and boards etc...far worse...

(you don't like pavlovas?! they're your sell out! hahaha i missed out the chance to make em during CNY when I was stuck with 6 whites. not angmolangs but you know :D my gramma turned the into low cholesterol omelettes :/ this was before i found yr blog else I wouldve maybe donated them to you haha!) maybe can get a rm2 discount when i order :D

oh by the way, you game to try some top secret clone recipes? i get from topsecretrecipes.com wan :D chilli's molten choc cake, kenny roger's muffins..... would be awesome to get a foodie's thoughts since you can accurately compare & review food! esp to the selumptious quality of kenny roger's muffins. i'm not a very good reviewer, haven't eaten enough salt you see. :D

haha i have no reason to not be modest i has nothing to boast about! i am merely a baker who's almost burnt down the house. (quite an accomplishment i kno!)

ok i'll email u the recipe!

...a&w waffles!!! how could you bring this tender subject up? waffles are my weakness. eh must try again la! did u foam-erise your egg whites? to me right, i think that their waffle is more whites than yolks cos its colour is so pale! i also think the wofflemekker has something to do with it. nonetheless i think i'll test my theory on the whites & stuff! or maybe stand next to the a&w waffle maker to see the batter's consistency!

ah, great minds...i DID whisk my whites separately in one experiment, and i ALSO believe its the wofflemaker that makes the diff, cos theirs is very DEEP hor, unlike the home ones, which is shallower than desperate housewives...

i even tried adding some rice flour to make it crispy on the outside... obviously i havent succeedded...

@FBB: Now why would I want to kill one of the best bakers in town? Your fans would run me down in their BMWs and 4WDs faster than you can spell m-a-c-a-r-o-n. (Especially now that we discover there's one 'O' less...)

fen, yeah, baking classes are a hoot, if you get the right crowd and right instructor. i've been for several pretty uninspiring bake classes....and there are those that make you want to embrace the whole thing as a full time profession...

You can always start making sugee fruitcakes that uses 25-30 egg yolks. I'm sure the cakes would taste absolutely divine after 9 months of maceration in brandy/whisky/rum...

I too am intrigued by these macarons. Apparently it was quite the rage with some sporean floggers while ago. Everyone was trying to get the 'frilly legs' right!! I tried some in kl before but was not too impressed. I will ask around some french ladies here to see if there are any good ones around.

Just saw a recipe for Vanilla Macarons with Choc Nutella Ganache. 120g egg whites is how many ah? 3? That's not too bad - can easily find something that uses 3 egg yolks!

GFAD, 120gm is about 3-4 eggs la, depending on the size of your eggs. i not really a sugi fan ...even a plain sugi cake uses like 10 yolks. she just used a plain nozzle, which yeah, ...you can just circumcize your piping bag i guess.

Life For Beginners, mmm hmm! Awesome, you want to try too? C'mon! Have you the recipe yet? Yeah love the TSR site, they used to give their recipe of the week free until the next week so I have a whole bunch of copied recipes that're now locked up. Cool eh? If you want any just holler. I just have to find my old harddrives..nowadays I just email myself everything haha!

How's this one for eye watering? Saw this on one of the Astro channels. US$7,500 for one macaroon. I speak English, gonna spell them with double 'o.' Anyways, Pierre Herme has a shop which is like a haute coutoure house. And he sells the macaroon ALONG with the recipe.

Haha, so funny. You always make me smile, FBB. Like you, I'd never been a fan of macaroni (wrong spelling still, ah?) until I had a Luxemburgeli from that shockingly expensive Sprungli chocolate shop here in CH. Wah, so nice... ya, but a bit sweet lah. You make me wanna try to make these, like my ex-classmate, MyFoodSafari - remember her?

About Me

Oft misunderstood soul. Shy, reserved, likes to stay in the background, but inevitably mistaken as not shy, extrovert etc. Originally meant to be a culinary blog, but in due course discovered man does not live on cake alone..hence the waffle.